Zaheer summoned after Ponting clash

Mohali: Sparks flew on the opening day of the first India-Australia cricket Test with Ricky Ponting and Zaheer Khan having a on-field showdown which prompted the match referee to summon the Indian pacer after the end of day's play.

The incident occurred in the 42nd over which was being bowled by Harbhajan Singh.

All-rounder Shane Watson pushed the fourth ball of that over towards mid-wicket and called Ponting who was batting on 71 for a quick single.

Before the Australian skipper could make his ground, Suresh Raina's direct throw hit the stumps.

After third umpire Sanjay Hazare adjudged him run-out, Ponting was walking back towards the pavilion when he turned back after hearing some comments from Zaheer.

With the Indian players standing in a pack, Ponting walked back towards them pointing the bat at them when he was intervened by Billy Bowden. Good sense prevailed after that and he walked back to the pavilion.

Match referee Chris Broad summoned Zaheer at the end of the day's play and had a word with him but according to team official Mayank Parikh, it was just a "friendly interaction" and there was no official caution or fine as such.

Australian opener Shane Watson, who came at the media conference after the day's play, was forthright in stating that it was Zaheer whose remarks escalated the tension.

"I didn't know what happened in the middle. Only later I saw the footage. It was Zaheer who came out of the huddle and his remarks escalated the incident. Ricky is not someone who will go out there to pick up a fight. He reacted only after something was said. We know what's the line we shouldn't cross," Watson.

India spinner Pragyan Ojha, however, sought to play down the issue.

"It often happens when you are competitive. There are times when words are exchanged," Ojha told the reporters.

Interestingly, on Thursday at the pre-match media conference, Ponting had said that he doesn't want any negativity or bad blood during the series as world cricket is still suffering in the wake of spot-fixing controversy involving the Pakistan trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir and Salman Butt.

Watson stands in way of fighting India

India turned a bad morning into a bright afternoon despite the committed effort of Shane Watson, who collected his third century in a week. Watson, who posted twin hundreds in the tour game, survived two chances in delivering the sort of performance expected of a specialist opener, not one Australia have manufactured over the past year.

Despite Watson's calm 101 on the opening day, the visitors are far from safe at 224 for 5 after a stinging late burst from Zaheer Khan, India's only fit paceman following a knee injury to Ishant Sharma. Zaheer, who was steaming in the second session during a confrontation with Ricky Ponting, gained his second lbw when he picked up Michael Hussey (17) with a reverse-swinging delivery and followed up by clipping Marcus North's off stump when he tried to leave on 0.

Zaheer finished with 3 for 45 off 16 overs to continue the fine recovery by a side that was struggling badly over the first half of the day. The locals would have been happier had MS Dhoni, who returned from the Champions League Twenty20 two days ago, caught a regulation chance off Tim Paine (1 not out).

On a pitch with low bounce and gaining in turn, Watson began in an aggressive mood but toned down once Ponting and Michael Clarke departed before tea, leaving the tourists at an uncomfortable 172 for 3. Until Ponting's departure for 71, Australia had been the ones in control but his run-out forced a change of pace, and Watson started grinding towards three-figures.

There was no rush from Watson as the Indian spinners delivered tight spells in the afternoon and were called on for more work following Ishant's departure after 7.4 overs. Only 45 runs were scored in the final session as the ball softened and the spinners closed in against the defensive Watson, Clarke and Hussey.

Watson has spent some gut-wrenching periods in the nineties during his 21 Tests, but he stayed calm and crept up on a rewarding second century. The milestone came with a legside clip for two off Harbhajan Singh and he stayed until the end, capturing eight fours from his 279 balls. It was a performance that bettered the 78 he made at the same ground two years ago, an innings that showed he could succeed when grit was required.

Watson and Ponting had survived some scares and overcame the early loss of Simon Katich (6) in their stabilising 141-run stand. The two-Test series began with Virender Sehwag's second-ball drop of Watson, who was also missed by Dhoni on 37, while Ponting benefitted from Ishant's over-stepping when glancing behind.

Ponting returned the charity after responding tardily to Watson's call for a single and was run out by Suresh Raina's smart direct hit from midwicket. The third umpire was required to decide Ponting's fate after his mostly composed innings, but as he walked past the fielders he was called out by Zaheer in the first flashpoint of the series. The taunts resulted in the captain changing direction and walking towards the huddle for a short exchange.

It was the fourth time Ponting, 35, had been caught short in Tests since going to England last year and the type of dismissal was particularly frustrating given the strong position of his team. Until that point it was India who had been unnecessarily generous with dropped catches, missed run-out chances and a flood of eight no-balls from Ishant.

India went in with four specialist bowlers, but only two were fast men, so Ishant's injured knee was another concerning development, especially as Harbhajan had to pass a fitness test in the morning. The lack of firepower could harm the hosts for the remainder of the game, but not if Zaheer continues weaving the ball late.

India's initial difficulty was eased by Raina's brilliant throw and the scoring-rate quickly dropped as Watson and Clarke added 18 at 1.5 an over against the spinners. Clarke then tried to cut a wider ball from Harbhajan and edged to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

Harbhajan was much more dangerous after lunch, slowing the runs and creating some half-chances in his 1 for 69 off 29 overs, and the pitch will help the slow men more as the game wears on. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm orthodox spinner, also played an important role, rarely allowing an attacking option, as he gave away 39 runs in 31 overs. After a strong start the signs are already worrying for Australia, even though their opponents are possibly a man short

Unadkat, Ganguly script a fine five-wicket win over Rajasthan

Kolkata captain superbly lead his young guns on the field and later scored a fine unbeaten 75 to carve out a rather comfortable eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals.

Though it was a tad baffling why Ganguly and his partner Cheteshwar Pujara, who batted well for his 45, did not show any urgency to knock off the runs within 13 overs, as it would have helped the team to have more favourable net run rate.

Eventually, after restricting Rajasthan to 132 for 9, Kolkata scored 133 for 2 with consummate ease and with 3.5 overs to spare. Jaidev Unadkat, the 18-year-old left-arm medium-pacer was adjudged man-of-the-match for his fine bowling effort of 3 for 26 in 4 overs.

After inspiring the bowlers with his outstanding fielding, Ganguly brilliantly anchored Kolkata’s innings and scored a 50-ball 75, which included two blazing sixes and 11 boundaries. He shared an unbeaten 111-run partnership with Pujara to make the run-chase look like a walk in the park. Though initially, Kolkata were in a spot of bother when they lost two of their most explosive batsmen Brendon McCullum (6) and Chris Gayle (0) in the third over with the scoreboard reading 22 for 2.

They built the innings with a lot of patience and care. They chose the more ugly but effective way of building the innings— with singles and twos. Ganguly worked the gaps smartly and ran hard like a youngster in his 20s. And every time a bowler erred in length, the captain would help himself to a boundary. In fact, he began very confidently by cracking Yusuf Pathan for two boundaries in the first over of the innings and stepped on the gas towards the business end of the innings.

Pujara played the role of a junior partner to perfection. He placed the ball well in the gaps and often gave Saurav the strike to take the game in control. During his 38-ball innings, Pujara hit five cracking boundaries and a massive six.

After being asked to bowl, Kolkata allowed the tourists to get off to a fine start, when the openers Shane Watson and Naman Ojha raced off to 46 for no loss in the first 6 overs. Ganguly turned to his statemate Laxmi Ratan Shukla and he more than obliged his captain.

Shukla bowled a slower bouncer to which Watson had no answer; he completely missed the line to see the ball rearrange his timber. Until then Watson had been shaping up well for a big score but had to return to the dug out for 44.

Unadkat produced another breakthrough when Ojha flashed hard at a rank bad ball wide outside the off stump, but Shukla pulled of a breathtaking catch at point by flinging himself full length to his left.

In a matter of one over, Rajasthan went from 59 for no loss to 69 for 2. It was still a decent platform for the middle order to put up a formidable total but soon after Yusuf Pathan departed and that opened the flood gates. Pathan got out to a spectacular catch by Ganguly, who dived full-length to take a single-handed catch off Unadkat.

The Royals batsmen joined the procession that went in one direction — the dug out. A wicket fell almost every second over and there was no partnership worth the mention. The next seven wickets could add only 61 runs.

Strike bowler Shane Bond bowled remarkably well and finished with a figure of 20 for 1 in his 4 overs, which included a wicket maiden. Medium-pacer Ashok Dinda also put up a spirited effort while taking 2 for 24.

Must-win for Chennai in battle of Kings

Dharamsala: Chennai's fate lies as much in their own hands as in the hands of other teams. For starters, they will have to win their game against Punjab at Dharamshala on Sunday to keep their hopes alive of remaining in the competition. Punjab, on the other hand, would like keep their pride intact in what has been otherwise a disastrous IPL - III for them and sign off on a winning note.

On paper, Chennai look far superior, but the problem with them has been their batting. Matthew Hayden like most Australian batsmen this time has not fired and Mike Hussey seems to have terribly lost his touch. Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina are the only two batsmen who have taken Chennai to most of their wins and the side would hope for an encore from them. Skipper MS Dhoni has also been short of runs and it's time for a Dhoni special.

Meanwhile, hosts Punjab have come a long way since their insipid performances in the first leg. Their batting has started to click and Sri Lankan players Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have begun to look extremely dangerous. Even Yuvraj Singh seems to be finding his feet which is a good sign for India ahead of the T20 World Cup.

If the three click again in tandem, they could gatecrash Chennai's party.

Chennai's bowling too is better than Punjab's. The team almost defended a paltry score of 112 against Delhi in their last game. Ravichandran Ashwin and Shadab Jakati have done well with their slow spinners and Doug Bollinger has made an incredible impact since coming into the side. It was Bollinger's first over in the last game where he scalped both Virender Sehwag and Tillakratne Dilshan that opened the floodgates for Delhi. The Punjab batsmen will have to see him off and can then look to accelerate in the middle overs.

Chennai also have an edge being a better fielding unit and the likes of Raina, Hussey, Hayden and Morkel all of a safe pair of hands. Punjab will have to pull up their socks in this regard. They have dropped important catches in crucial games and they cannot make the same mistake against the Chennai Super Kings.

The pitch at Dharamshala is a belter and its high time the Mongoose fires. If it does, Sangakkara's average bowling outfit willl have their task cut out. Punjab in their last game at the same venue could not defend a good score of 174 against Deccan Chargers. That tells a lot about the bowling arsenal Sangakkara possesses. For him what will be pertinent is that his batsmen score a lot many runs to put any pressure on the opposition. For now though Chennai look to be the firm favourites.

Virtual semi-final as Delhi take on Deccan

New Delhi In a game supposed to decide the fourth and the final semi-finalist, Delhi Daredevils take on Deccan Chargers at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi. Loss for either could jeopardise their chances of reaching the semis. A win though would guarantee a place in the final four, something which has surely come at a high price this IPL.

Delhi's position is a little better than Deccan's. They have a good run-rate and are sitting pretty with 14 points. They might just be in the semis, unless they make the mistake of losing by a huge margin. Their batting has looked good in most of the games and the good news is that their skipper Gautam Gambhir has struck form. With Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, David Warner and Paul Collingwood in their line-up, this is one batting attack that has the potential to decimate any bowling line-up.

On the other hand, Deccan’s batting has failed to live upto their reputation. Skipper Adam Gilchrist has hardly made runs; Andrew Symonds has more often then not failed to deliver and Monish Mishra’s quick knocks have been too brief. It is the efforts of two Indian batsmen namely Tirumalasetti Suman and Rohit Sharma which has taken Deccan to where it stands now. Both the batsmen have has been spectacular in taking their side home, time and again.

On the bowling front, Delhi has the edge with Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra being in sublime form. The two left-arm seamers have succeeded in maintaining a tight leash as well as picking up wickets up front. It was early wickets against Chennai in their last game which broke Chennai’s back and made sure the home side skittled for a paltry 112. Amit Mishra has also been in decent form with comeback man Tillakratne Dilshan and all-rounder Virender Sehwag support him pretty well.

Deccan on the other hand has struggled in their bowling department. Though Ryan Harris has given them good starts time and again, others have seriously let the side down. Their biggest disappointment without doubt has been RP Singh. The left-arm seamer has given runs in plenty to the opposition batsmen. The way Mahela Jayawardene picked him up for boundaries in the last game, it was clear that he had a lot of work to do on his bowling to be back in rhythm. Purple cap holder Pragyan Ojha has also not looked very impressive in the last few games and all and all-in-all the situation looks grim for Adam Gilchrist’s bowlers.

The one problem for batters of both sides will be the Delhi track. It has been a low-slow kind of a surface with enormous help for the spinners. Run scoring has not been easy and totals of 140 odd can be a tricky one to chase. The team batting first is definitely going to hold an advantage and hence the toss would be doubly crucial.

Modi offered $50 mn to pull out: Kochi team owner

New Delhi/ Mumbai: Lalit Modi – Shashi Tharoor IPL row took yet another turn after one of IPL Kochi’s co-owners Shailendra Gaikwad alleged that Modi had offered Rendezvous Sports a huge sum to pull out of the bidding process that was held in March.

"We were offered USD 50 million by Modi to withdraw from the Kochi team" Shailendra Gaikwad, CEO of the franchise, alleged within hours of Modi telling reporters that there was a question mark over the fate of the new team, secured by a bid of Rs 1533 crore last month.

Terming as "rubbish" the charges, Modi told PTI: "Are they mad. Who will offer tham what they say Rs 200 crore. I will take legal recourse."

Asked when he would initiate the legal action, he said "I am awaiting the clippings (in which Gaikwad had made allegation that Modi wanted their bid to be withdrawn). Once I

have that, I will serve them legal notice... possibly tomorrow."

Hours after Modi told a press conference that there was a question mark over the owners of the Kochi franchise, Gaikwad hit back at the IPL Commissioner saying that they were being deliberately made to go through a "tough time" because they refused the offer.

"We went through the process in the right manner and won the bid. But within 10 days of winning the bid, Modi offered us USD 50 million to give away the rights of the IPL franchise," Gaikwad told agency.

Gaikwad said that the franchise was being targeted because it outbid some big business houses whom Modi wanted to rope in for the subsequent editions of IPL.

"We are being put to an unnecessary process and the reasons are obvious. If we did not have all the papers in place how could we win the bid. It is unfair now to make us go

through these problems," he said.

Modi, on the other hand, wondered as to "why I will offer them the money... the bid had gone for a good sum," and dared Gaikwad to prove the allegations.

"Today they are saying USD 50 million. Tomorrow they may say some different figures," he said adding that every communication and conversations, including that of Tharoor

wherein the Union Minister asked him not to identify the owners, was minuted in IPL.

Allegations from Rendezvous, which has given a 18 per cent share of its 25 per cent equity in Kochi Team to Sunanda Pushkar -- a friend of Tharoor, came within days of Modi divulging the names of stakeholders in Kochi Team, a tweet that led to a public spat between the Union Minister and IPL official. Gaikwad said that all the details of the owners were provided in the bid document which would have, otherwise, been

rejected.

"We have submitted all the details such as, PAN card, passport and other professional documents in the bid. Everything was attached as per the requirements. So how come

suddenly there is a doubt about the owners? he asked.

Gaikwad suggested that the IPL Commissioner may be putting obstacles on the Kochi franchise so that he could push some other team which he favoured.

He alleged that Modi had asked a lot of personal details during the meeting with owners in Bangalore.

"We were asked a lot of personal questions about some of our owners which we could not readily answer. He asked questions about when did you meet Sunanda (Pushkar) and other such irrelevant things.

"We said that whatever questions were unanswered we will mail all the details as soon as possible. We felt that most of the questions were planted. Before we could give all the

answers he went on Twitter and said at the press conference that we did not have knowledge about all the owners," Gaikwad said.

Asked whether the Kochi franchise, which won the bid for a whopping Rs 1533 crore, was contemplating legal action against Modi for breaking the confidentiality terms, Gaikwad said, "we don`t want to take legal recourse."

"We don`t want to make this a legal issue. We are here for the passion of the game. We wanted to do something for cricket."

Earlier, Modi had said that he is in dark about the owners of Kochi franchise and would call a meeting of the IPL Governing Council after April 25 to discuss the issue.

"As regards all earlier franchisees we know who the owners are. They come, they attend conferences and meetings but as far as Kochi IPL is concerned we had a question mark," he said at a press conference in Mumbai.

We wanted to finish it off quickly: Pietersen

Jaipur: After taking Royal Challengers Bangalore close to the IPL semifinals with a blistering 29-ball 62, Kevin Pietersen said they came to bat with an aim to finish the game within 15 overs.

Chasing 131 to win, the visitors cruised to the win in 15.4 overs which helped them move up a place to second in the points table and get to a healthy net run-rate of +0.467.

"Against Deccan Chargers we took too long to be there and wanted to finish it early to improve our run-rate. I was firing on all cylinders because we wanted to finish it inside 15 overs," Pietersen, adjudged Man-of-the Match, said the British batsman`s splendid knock had a tragic end as he got run out after a mix up with Virat Kohli but Pietersen condoned the young teammate.

"I was disappointed with the run out. It was silly way to get out. Run outs are run outs and nobody was at fault. I am happy with the team`s performance. Everything came out very good. With run-rate improving we are closer to the semifinals," Pietersen, who was seen yelling at Kohli after the run out, said.

Rajasthan skipper Warne attributed the loss to poor start and chided his team for the pathetic show.

"We again had a horror start because of the Lumb run out. We were 14 in 2 overs but in the next few balls we lost third wicket also. It was disappointing. We thought we had a calm head under pressure but it was panic.”

"Still we did well to reach 130 for six but Pietersen came and took them along. He was hitting the ball and escaped with it. We still have a mathematical chance of making it to the semifinals but I am still very disappointed with the performance today," Warne said.